Shelf

ABSTRACT

A shelf includes a bearing region and a supporting region connected to and extending parallel to the bearing region. The supporting region includes a supporting profile. The supporting profile has a first leg extending substantially parallel to the bearing region. The first leg includes at least two parallel sections. The supporting profile also includes a second leg extending from the bearing region to the first leg. The second leg includes at least two parallel sections.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a National Stage Utility patent application that relies for priority on PCT Patent Application No. PCT/EP2007/003504, filed on Apr. 20, 2007, and also relies for priority on German Patent Application No. DE 20 2006 006 388.9, filed on Apr. 20, 2006, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a rack-shelf having a bearing region and a supporting region extending in parallel to the bearing region, wherein the supporting region is provided with supporting profiles.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

It is generally known to provide shelves for storage and shop-fitting with supporting profiles which enhance the stability of the shelf against bending under high load. In order to reach high stability and economic fabrication, the supporting profiles are preferably formed integrally with the shelf.

DE-U-71 05 901 discloses a shelf in which the support is formed by foldings which are formed integrally with the cut metal sheet and project from the lower side thereof. The walls of the foldings rest against each other at least in the region close to the bearing region of the shelf.

DE-C-29 19 264 discloses a module for constructing a shelf. The module comprises supporting profiles which are formed integrally with the bearing region. A plurality of these modules are composed to form a shelf. The supporting profiles are made of sections which are obtained by multiple edge bending of the shelf material. In a cross-sectional view, the profile has the form of a triangle with an upper open end and forming a joint in the bearing region.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a shelf with supporting profiles to enhance the loading capacity and the bending strength of the shelf. At the same time, it is desired to decrease the production costs and to have a jointless bearing region. Further, the bending strength in the depth direction of the shelf should remain essentially unchanged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, one aspect of the invention to provide a rack-shelf that addresses one or more of the deficiencies noted above.

In one contemplated embodiment of the invention, the supporting profile is comprised of two legs. Each of the legs is formed by leg sections which extend in parallel. The first leg substantially runs in parallel to the bearing region of the shelf. The legs enhance the loading capacity and the bending strength of the shelf by carrying a part of the weight which is imposed on the bearing region of the shelf. Simultaneously, the shelves may easily be stacked for storage and sale, because the first leg forms a relatively big contact surface to the shelf stacked thereunder. Thereby, the supporting load can be uniformly distributed across the bearing surface of the shelf even for high stacking heights. Also, damages to the bearing surfaces caused by the supporting profile of the shelf stacked thereon can be avoided.

In a further contemplated embodiment, the stability of the profile is additionally improved by the fact that the surfaces of the sections of the supporting profiles, which extend in parallel, rest against each other. Preferably, the regions of the leg sections which rest against each other are additionally connected by welding. A reasonable result is obtainable by individual welding spots. Alternatively or in addition, a continuous welding seam along the outer edges of the supporting profile is possible, i.e. along the joint which is formed by the upper edges of the sections of the second leg in the bearing region and/or at the side rims of the supporting profile. The connection is preferably formed by a laser welding method.

Aspects of the invention allow, among other things, a particularly simple manufacturing of the supporting profile, because a T-shaped supporting profile having two legs can be made by repeated roll forming and/or edge bending steps with angles of 90° or 180′.

In one contemplated embodiment of the invention, the supporting profile is formed integrally with the material of the bearing region. An integrally formed shelf is generally more stable than one which is formed of plural parts, because there are no connecting points between the individual parts which could loosen under load. Moreover, only one workpiece has to be worked so that the manufacturing of the shelf is possible in a particularly economic way. An integrally formed shelf further has an even higher bending strength.

With respect to another contemplated embodiment of the invention, the supporting profile is formed by roll forming and/or edge bending. In other words, the support can be realised at reasonable manufacturing effort.

In still another contemplated embodiment of the invention, the supporting profile extends across the complete length of the shelf, i.e. from one side end to the other.

In other contemplated embodiments of the invention, the first and second legs are perpendicular to each other, whereby the supporting load is distributed particularly uniformly.

It is also contemplated that that the invention encompasses a preferred construction according to which the shelf is manufactured by a single piece of metal sheet, e.g. by edge bending and/or roll forming.

In a further contemplated embodiment of the invention, joints are closed which unavoidably remain at the upper edge even when welding the sections of the second legs and in which dirt can get caught or articles disposed on the shelf can get stuck. Thereby, an unevenness of the bearing region of the shelf can be avoided at the locations where the supporting profiles are integrally formed.

The embodiment with plural supporting profiles effects an additional stability gain across the complete depth of the shelf.

Still further embodiments and variations should be appreciated by those skilled in the art from the description that follows and the drawings appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the invention will now be explained with reference to the drawings. Therein:

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the shelf in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the supporting profile in cross-section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a shelf 1 having a bearing region 2 and a supporting region 3 which extends in parallel to the bearing region. The supporting region comprises two supporting profiles 4. The supporting profiles 4 run perpendicular to the drawing plane of the Figure from one side end of the shelf 1 to the other.

In the longitudinal direction of the shelf 1, side walls 11 are provided at the side ends. The side walls enhance the rigidity. They are produced by punching and/or cutting and subsequent roll forming and/or edge bending of the outer rims of the shelf. The cutting of the side walls 11 prior to the edge bending is made so that after the manufacturing of the supporting profiles 4 the gap (not shown) remaining at the height of the supporting profiles is as small as possible. When the shelf is placed onto brackets (not shown) which are hinged into vertical rack-columns (not shown), the side walls 11 prohibit the shelf from sliding down.

The bearing region 2 is confined in the longitudinal direction by front and rear grooves 12, 13. The grooves further increase the stiffness of the shelf 1 and are suitable for fastening price labels and dividing panels in the bearing region. Further, the grooves can catch particles or small pieces which fall down from the shelf.

FIG. 2 shows the supporting profile 4 in cross-section. The profile includes two legs 5, 6. Each of the legs is formed by two leg sections 7, 8 and 9, 10 which extend pairwise in parallel. In this particularly preferred embodiment, the first leg 6 and the second leg 5 are perpendicular to each other and form the shape of an upside down “T”. In use, the second leg 5 is vertically oriented, while the first leg 6 is oriented horizontally and therefore in parallel to the bearing region of the shelf.

The two legs 5, 6 are formed integrally with the bearing region 2 of the shelf 1. Thereby, the shelf has a high stability and can be manufactured simply and economically by roll forming and/or edge bending from one piece of metal sheet.

The vertical or second leg 5 improves the bending strength of the shelf 1 in the longitudinal direction of the supporting profile 4. The horizontal or first leg 6 generally enhances the load capacity and the bending strength of the shelf. It works like a chord which carries the weight of an article stored on the shelf in addition to the material of the shelf in the bearing region 2. The weight is divided into a pressure load portion which acts on the bearing region 2 and a tensile load portion which acts on the legs 5, 6 of the supporting region 3. In total, this increases the load capacity of the shelf 1.

Manufacturing of the shelf 1 starts from a metal sheet which can be treated by edge bending. The sheet can be worked by repeated roll forming and/or edge bending steps to obtain the T-shaped supporting profile with the two legs 5, 6 as shown in FIG. 2. The two sections 7, 8 of the vertical leg 5, which rest against each other, provide an almost jointless surface of the bearing region.

A high stability gain in view of the amount of material used can be achieved when the two legs 5, 6 substantially have the same length. When the sections 7, 8 and/or 9, 10 of one or both of the legs 5, 6 are each pairwise connected to each other by plural welding spots or welding seams, the shelf has an even higher stability.

In spite of the welding at the upper edges of the sections 7, 8 of the second leg 5, joints 14 remain in the bearing region 2 at the locations of the supporting profiles 4. In those joints, dirt can get caught or articles placed on the shelf can get stuck. It is therefore preferable to close these joints 14 by applying an appropriate material. The filling material can be welded, bonded or applied in another way prior to or after the painting or powder coating of the shelf 1. In this way, an unevenness of the bearing region can be avoided almost entirely.

While one or more embodiments of the invention are described herein, the invention is not intended to be limited thereto. To the contrary, the invention is intended to encompass any equivalents and variations that may be appreciated by those skilled in the art. 

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A shelf, comprising: a bearing region; and at least one supporting region connected to and extending parallel to the bearing region, wherein the at least one supporting region comprises at least one supporting profile comprising a first leg extending substantially parallel to the bearing region, the first leg comprising at least two parallel sections, and a second leg extending from the bearing region to the first leg, the second leg comprising at least two parallel sections, wherein the first and second legs form a “T” in cross-section.
 12. The shelf of claim 1, wherein the at least two parallel sections of at least one of the first and second legs are rest against each other and are connected to each other.
 13. The shelf of claim 1, wherein the supporting profile is formed integrally with the bearing region.
 14. The shelf of claim 1, wherein each of the parallel sections are at least one of roll formed or edge bent.
 15. The shelf of claim 1, wherein the supporting profile extends substantially thereacross.
 16. The shelf of claim 1, wherein the second leg extends substantially perpendicular to the first leg.
 17. The shelf of claim 1, wherein the shelf is made from one piece of metal sheet.
 18. The shelf of claim 1, further comprising: a filling element disposed in a joint formed in the bearing region at an upper end of the at least two parallel sections that form the second leg.
 19. The shelf of claim 1, wherein the at least one supporting region comprises a plurality of supporting profiles. 